1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cables and conductors and, in particular, to insulation therefore.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In alternating current or direct current electrical power transmission, electrical conduction processes in condensed matter, under certain conditions, consist of the transport of heat, electric charge, mass, and magnetism or some combination of the four in some possible response to an imposed temperature gradient, electric field, density gradient, or magnetic field. Electrical conductivities vary greatly between various materials, and conductivities may vary by an amount of 20 decades or more between metals and most commercially used insulating materials. In electrical cables a thermodynamic equilibrium is established between the particular materials used as the electrical insulation and the electrical conductors.
Influences on the conduction processes in insulation are known as traps, polarizability or treeing. Such influences contribute to what is known as electrical breakdown, either thermal or electronic. External cold temperature plays a part in insulation degradation (i.e., cracking) by what is known as cold bend or static temperature. An insulation or dielectric material can under certain conditions experience dielectric breakdown or may spark over when the insulation or dielectric strength drops either because of deterioration, impurities, moisture or physical abuse or damage by the user or abnormal electrical conditions. The existence of foreign materials in the insulation and also what is known as electrically stressed insulation, may under certain conditions result in dielectric break down resulting in heating and unwanted shorts. Some dielectric heating may also result from molecular friction from alternating current which may result in a dielectric loss and dielectric strength drops. Presently today's commercial insulation on an electrical cable assembly or wire hides electrical damage and does not have the capabilities to indicate and/or locate varied inner cable faults and/or malfunctions and/or damage and/or hazards.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical cable assembly that will indicate, through an attention getting means, preferably visually through sight or by smell or taste or touch, the presence of a fault and/or malfunction and/or damage and/or hazard in the electrical cable assembly. A further object of the present invention relates to a repair jacket and tape to be used in combination with an electrical cable assembly where in the repair jacket or tape also has the capability to indicate the presence of electrical repaired cable faults, and/or malfunction, and/or damage, and/or hazard by an attention getting means.